Method of determining a chemotherapeutic regimen based on glutathione-s transferase pi expression

Abstract

The present invention relates to prognostic methods which are useful in medicine, particularly cancer chemotherapy. The object of the invention to provide a method for assessing GST-pi expression levels in fixed or fixed and paraffin embedded tissues and prognosticate the probable resistance or sensitivity of a patient's tumor to treatment with platinum-based therapies by examination of the amount of GST-pi mRNA in a patient's tumor cells and comparing it to a predetermined threshold expression level. More specifically, the invention provides to oligonucleotide primer pair GST-piand methods comprising their use for detecting levels of GST-pi mRNA.

1. An oligonucleotide primer having the sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, wherein said primer is capable of amplifying a portion of GST-pi mRNA isolated from fixed and paraffin embedded (FPE) tumor tissue when used with SEQ ID NO: 2. 
     
     
       2. An oligonucleotide primer having the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said primer is capable of amplifying a portion of GST-pi mRNA isolated from fixed and paraffin embedded (FPE) tumor tissue when used with SEQ ID NO: 1. 
     
     
       3. A kit for detecting expression of a GST-pi gene comprising the oligonucleotide primers of  claim 1  and  claim 2 .